Saed Hindash/The Star-LedgerSenate President Stephen Sweeney gives a short press conference today saying the Democrats are signing off on the budget and passing it onto Gov. Chris Christie.

TRENTON — After months of negotiations, Democratic lawmakers unveiled a state budget today that restores up to $1.6 billion to underfunded school districts, pumps millions back into property tax relief and sets the stage for a new battle with Gov. Chris Christie.

The proposal announced by Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester) pours $1.1 billion back into poor school districts whose funding was slashed last year. Another bill would reinstate a "millionaires tax" on New Jersey’s wealthiest, setting aside $500 million for suburban schools.

That maneuver is not likely to please Christie, who has refused to raise taxes and vetoed a similar bill last year.

"This is about what we believe in and what we stand for," said Sweeney. "It honestly recognizes the principles of the people in this state that do care about the middle class and the poor."

Christie spokesman Kevin Roberts declined to comment, saying the governor would hold off until the bills land on his desk.

On a frenzied day, Democratic senators spent three hours hammering out the budget while thousands of protesters outside the Statehouse railed against an overhaul of public workers’ benefits that passed the Assembly late tonight.

Sweeney, who took a public drubbing from a dozen members of his caucus before the Senate passed the pension overhaul last week, got Senate Democrats back in step behind the budget bill.

• About $9 million would be restored to NJFamilyCare, a popular Medicaid offshoot for working families.

The Democrats’ budget exceeds $30 billion. Christie planned to spend $29.6 billion and warned he would use his line-item veto power if the lawmakers’ budget is not "fiscally responsible."

"The Democrats have proposed a budget that taxes more, spends more, kills jobs and relies on money that doesn’t exist," said Adam Bauer, Senate Republican spokesman.

Democrats are counting on an $800 million windfall from unexpected income tax revenue. The Christie administration has cautioned that only $450 million to $500 million would come in. Sweeney said the Office of Legislative Services on Wednesday assured him that he could count on $800 million.

Around $300 million in cuts would come from areas "where the money is never fully used," Sweeney said, citing a prescription program that had $9 million left over last fiscal year.

The bill will be sponsored by Sen. Paul Sarlo (D-Bergen), chairman of the budget committee, and will be taken up by that panel Monday. The new fiscal year begins next Friday.